FileSearchy is a new beta software that searches and indexes Windows drives. It can also search in files including Office and pdf formats and present highlighted results. It features a tabbed interface to keep multiple searches open.
FileSearchy indexes attached drives automatically unless this is unchecked in its options. The program has an Instant mode to show search results as you type but the Advanced mode – wait until Enter is clicked – is the default. Also by default is FileSearchy’s use of a built-in pdf converter that it uses to look in pdf files.
The program interface is divided into searching for file names with support for substrings, dates, size, case restriction, whole words and regular expressions. There is support for ; to separate words or folders and ! to exclude them. FileSearchy supports a whole set of regular expression patterns to narrow down searches. Searches can be restricted to directories as well. For the In directory and In content options the right most buttons allow the user to exclude folders or words from the search via a pop up window.
FileSearchy runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. As of this 0.9 beta version I was not able to browse to a folder when using the In directory option, the program would browse to a file instead.
Quick Search (Version: 1.1.0.189) is a simple and fast freeware tool to list and search for files on a local machine and storage devices attached to it such as USB keys or external hard drives. It is very fast with all files indexed within seconds. Its interface is clean and straight forward. It starts with a floating search bar or its non-full mode, it can be expanded or maximized to show the program window and all its options and menu.
Find or filter for a file as you type and either search within all files or narrow down the results from Show All to any one of Shortcuts, Folders (and files within them), Documents, Pictures, Videos or Music. Other filters can be added via its settings by telling Quick Search which file extensions should belong to the filter.
Any list of files can be exported to a txt file and the list can be arranged by type, date modified, size and name. Files can also be selected to copy, cut or paste. They files are also clickable, Quick Search opens their containing folder.
The settings has an option – on by default – to show and hide the full program window by clicking the Ctrl button twice.
neoSearch is a lightweight, 531KB download, option in the array of computer search utilities. Upon launch it takes a minute or more, depending on system size, to index the drive(s) so that it can present search results almost instantaneously. With neoSearch search results are presented and updated in real time when the user starts typing.
neoSearch’s options include adding system folders to it’s indexing, because it ignores those folders by default, including and excluding any number of folders from it’s indexing and therefore its search results and a scheduler for future indexing which includes a ‘manual’ option.
neoSearch suffers from a few drawbacks that are all by design, they are:
The program delays its own launch, when first opened and not when already running in the background, by asking for an update check and somewhat bizarrely makes the user wait five seconds if the update check is refused.
The program’s executable is placed in the system’s Application Data folder (alongside its index database) and so the program has no presence in the Program Files folder.
Only the first six search results are presented immediately and there is no scrolling to see additional results. An extra click (pressing Enter or on the magnifying glass icon) is required to open the full search results in a new window.
neoSearch is capable of indexing shared folders over a network, supports wildcards and works on Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and 7.
Locate32 is a file finder which works by indexing all your files on your hard disk drive…
When launching and using Locate32 for the first time the user creates a database which indexes all files on any drive. The indexing is relatively quick and can even be over in seconds depending on the number of files and folder on the system. Much like Unix systems it stores databases of directory structures and file names making post-indexing searches instant.
Much like the native Windows’ search Locate32 supports searching by extension, size, creation and modification date. It also supports such search queries as matching whole names only and searching by file and folder name only.
Database Info can be accessed under the File menu and includes such info as the size of the database and number of directories and files indexed. File—>Update Database is the place to re-run the database indexing when a number of new files have been created and to therefore keep the index up to date. Automatic updating of the database is also schedulable via the program’s settings.
Additionally Locate32 has numerous settings that allows the user to tweak the program’s behaviour. It is possible to control such things as what happens when the program is closed (for example ‘minimized to tray’) and how the search results are sorted. The location of database(s) can be changed and database for separate searches, searching other drives for example, created. Keyboard shortcuts are also available for such things as activating controls (ie refining search or choosing a search criteria) and launching a database update. Finally the Advanced tab of Locate32’s Settings (see image) lets the user change such things as the Show As You Type behaviour, Logical Operations (inclusion of the + operator for example) and to things like setting another program to open folders. The latter is very useful when the native Windows Explorer is replaced by an alternative.
Locate32 is compatible with Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP and Vista, is available as both 32bit and 64bit versions and can be portable.
Shortly after I wrote about the dirhtml index.html generator I received an email from its developer. In part due to my confusion about the way the sorting options were presented and how the output listing was actually sorted Eric, the enware developer, had released a new, then beta, version. It has since gone out of beta and v4.833 presents a more intuitive sorting menu (see images below).
Older version of dirhtmlNew version of dirhtml
In my opinion it is now easier to visualize the output because the ‘Unsorted’ option is now in a column with all the primary choices that determine the shape of the output.
Two notable omissions in the original article were that at the ‘Input/Output’ and final tab it is possible to create a batch file by clicking the ‘Save Batch File’ button or F7. This will generate a batch file and an associated .ini file. Launching the .bat will use the .ini file, containing all the settings that have been gathered by going through the program, and this will then immediately generate the required output. This is very useful as it makes subsequent uses much easier and faster. Also worth pointing out is the ‘div_recursive.txt’ script, one of the ‘Script’ choices in the initial ‘Folders, Files’ tab. This will generate an output with a recursive listing of the folders and files being worked on. It is a very useful way of presenting the results.
I also want to take this opportunity to write about the other freeware Eric is and has worked on.
First up is the Mp3 ImageMap. This is free for non-commercial purposes and portable. The developer, Eric, describes it as
…an attempt to bring back the shock value of music finding to people who know all their tunes and searches by heart, and incorporates a rather unique algorithm for dividing rectangles into N squares.
It works by the user specifying a folder (containing MP3 files for example), file extension(s)(MP3 and WMA for example), path to the output HTML file, image (GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG) and choosing one of several sort types and then clicking ‘Build It’. The app will use the image to generate an image map with different areas linked to the different MP3 and WMA files. A nice and fun way to listen to music or simply launch files.
Next is the ScrapBook described as
ScrapBook is a freeware, unstructured database program that holds chunks of text.
A lightweight and only 252KB download, it is surprisingly useful. It is possible to save all sorts of text with the first line of the said text acting as an index. It is also possible to differentiate and separate different chunks by placing them in different ‘cards’. To navigate between cards one can, for example, use the left and right arrows or click Alt+L, F2. Even easier is finding text by using the ‘Find’ box. It is also possible to save shortcuts in ScrapBook and use it as a launcher by moving the cursor over the text or shortcut and clicking F12. One interesting feature is the ability to ‘tag’ cards, by clicking Ctrl+space, and therefore making an index or listing even more intuitive by then viewing a list of tags (Ctrl+T). As with dirhtml ScrapBook is filled with useful features.
Finally there is CopyDate, taking a further step in making tasks easier, described as
Copydate copies files, optionally inserting today’s date/time into the copied filename.
The dirhtml index.html generator is described by its author as
Dirhtml builds customizable html files from a folder branch using the gui or command line
Creating a file listing has been one of the oldest and sometimes most discussed implementations for any computer, it is obvious how to and may be even trivial to achieve a list via a search or the CLI (command line interface.)
One tool however, that offers a GUI (graphical user interface) for this task is dirhtml. The program’s options consist of 6 tabs that allow you to customize the input and output in many different and useful ways.
The first tab is called ‘Folders, Files’ and this is where the files or folder(s) the user needs to work on are chosen, those files can be filtered by type, name or even their location in subfolders. This is also the place where the output file template and/or location is chosen.
The second tab is called ‘Miscellaneous’ and offers many options all packed into one page (see below.) Here everything about the output can be customized. The user can choose to include file sizes in the output, change the date format, insert summary statistics and much more.
The third tab is the ‘Sorting’ options one and by comparison it is an empty tab. Two main choices are included here that allow the user to sort the way the files are listed in the output. One is ‘sort by’ where files can be sorted by filename, date, size, extension or random order and the other is ‘sort order’ where ascending, descending and unsorted order are listed. However I have not tried and am not sure how the two can work together, for example what happens if the ‘sort by’ is date and the ‘sort order’ is unsorted?
The fourth tab is ‘Default Words’ and here one can customize and include html tags (such as bold, italic, etc.) for the titles, headings and summary text of the resulting output.
The fifth tab is ‘Recursive’ options and here the user can divide the output. For example the user may want each subfolder worked on and presented separately or perhaps presented in a framed HTML page.
The final tab (see image below) gives the user the control of where the output is launched, what language or font is used and also the option to work with batch files and scripts to automate the process and even further customize every aspect of the resulting output file. Everything from working with alternate rows to using style sheets or validating the output is made possible here. The included help file has examples and a list of tags or words that can be used for the customization.
All in all a very powerful program, dirhtml is now at version v4.832 and is a portable freeware. It runs under NT/2000/XP/Vista and a Windows 98 compatible version is also available at dirhtml.enware.info.
